Beach babe!

Today was our first day this year, to step foot onto our Charleston beach!! (We've been to Myrtle Beach, but not our own backyard!) How can that be?! For the long wait, it was welllllll worth it and SUCH a blast!!!

We started the beach excursion by stopping off at Jack's Cosmic Dogs for a quick bite and to see the new James Island location--just as awesome, if not better, than the Mt. P one. We're gunna have to go back for an ice cream or shake next time!!

Our last beach visit to Myrtle had us a little timid to go back on the beach with her. Granted this was a couple months ago as she was a bit younger. She was fussy out there, her nose got stuffy and she was just not really a happy camper. I couldn't believe MY child was not obsessed with the beach--how is that possible?? Well, I'm delighted to say after today, she is a beach babe!! I knew she had it in her. My sweetie.

Any of you moms know that anytime you leave your house, you have to take everything including the kitchen sink for baby. Even with Mollie being 11+ months, I still am scared to not have something she might need. We of course had the beach plan pretty thought out ahead of time; knowing what we wanted to bring, thinking about her fave toys & adding in a few new surprises for her, but we also thought a little out of the box. We have these great party tubs that we use for chilling drinks at home gatherings and figured, hey, let's make this a little pool on the beach!! Mollie LOVES the water, so we knew this would buy us some time if/when she got tired of the beach, but we weren't--haha.

Happy as a clam!

Kicked back, feet propped--just as the beach should be!

I think Matt & I just hit upon something brilliant--who's with me?! You carry your things down to the beach in this tub, THEN your baby plays in it. Yeah, like I said, brilliant;) Highly recommend this for you with kids age 6mths-1 year!

As we play in the sand a bit, I was so excited to see what M would do with the rush of waves--the girl loves a little adrenaline rush (to be rough housed, to be flipped upside down, etc). The waves came up to us way faster than expected, as you see here Matt & I both reached in to hold her from tipping over & she just has this look like BRING IT! Great..a little daredevil girl.

I was a bit afraid that she'd hate the sand and freak out if it was on her-totally not the case. Little did I know she'd want to eat the wet sand AND even make a gigantic mess. I mean, I should have known because she loves being messy with her food--what the heck kinda shape is her 1st birthday smash cake gunna be in?! I already feel sorry for that poor cake.

Prissy little girl?? I think not...just another example to support the many others! LOVE HER.

Fun in the Sun!

What a lovely, long Memorial Day weekend we had and hope y'all did as well:) We went to Hilton Head for a few days, which was great in many ways and 'interesting' in others. Haha.

We chose our hotel because it was beachfront, had a great pool and yeah...a tiki bar at the pool! Baby or no baby, Matt & I are still suckers for a pool-side bar:) Needless to say, on Memorial Day weekend...at a hotel with a tiki bar..and a baby, we didn't quite fit in. There were a couple others kids at the pool, but 95% of hotel guests and boozers were college kids. There I was in my bikini, holding a 10 month old with one arm and a cold beer with my other. My, how things change in just a short year or so! In the most AMAZING way I never knew possible!!! Swimming around with her in our floatie, listening to live music and sharing in a wonderful holiday weekend with my two favorite people made me enjoy the time for sure!

Lunch at Salty Dog

Chillin' at the hotel pool

Later at night was a different story...do you remember how late you stayed up when you were in college?? Now, do you remember how you acted on holiday weekends...in a beachfront hotel?! That's what I thought. Us and baby Mollie were no match for the drunken banter in the hallways ALLLLLL night long. Ha, I couldn't even call the front desk because I was afraid if I moved too much and rummaged around the room, Mollie would wake up and that could be a disaster. I'm still not sure how she slept in her pack n' play through all that ruckus, but she did. Alas Matt and I, not even a wink, well ok, maybe a few blinks. So much for 'vacation' huh? We did have fun..but these 'Motherhood Whoa's' sure do teach me a lot..and sometimes make me feel old. Here's to 30 years young!!! 

Takin' a swim break..girl could live in water!!

Wheeeeeeee!!

Let the games begin!

Who knew that month 10 would bring about sooo many wild & exciting happenings with Mollie! Girl is on the move and running her lips! I'll confess that one of my last posts was about her being on the move...I guess I didn't really know what that meant. I didn't fully grasp what a crawler will do your house and life until it REALLY started this past weekend. No more turning around for a second, the girl takes off and those wheels are just spinning:)



All of a sudden her communication is outstanding She's been saying 'Da-Da' for a while now and while quite vocal, no true words. Not anymore! We have 'Ba-Ba' for bottle, 'baby' for her babydoll Rosie, 'ball' 'book' and even 'bubbles!' Obviously she has her 'B's' nailed down:) Matt & I nearly feel out of our chairs when we were blowing bubbles on Sunday in the back yard and she belted out with 'bu-bles'--it was sooooo stinkin' CUTE!

After returning home from a fun weekend in Myrtle Beach, we then proceeded to REALLY child-proof the house. The socket plugs went in, I switched living room rugs with mom to have a softer one on her knees, other than my sisal and even put up the new Amazon purchase that is totally awesome, the baby gate with a pet door so the cats can get to their area, but Molls can't. LOVE IT!!!!

So, the games have officially begun...and we are having a blast!!!!! *Check back with me in a couple weeks & see if my enthusiasm and sanity are still around:)

**I just had to throw this pic in...Pops let Mollie play with his Blackberry & she was in hog heaven!

Girl's got some moves!!

This was a weekend of moves, to say the least!! Mollie is on a roll!

Saturday morning, after a much-successful C4W Purse Auction the night before (yayyy!), Matt, Molls & I along with 4 other friends had our first 'Water Babies' swim lesson~ ok, I know you're going, um, Mollie's not old enough for swim lessons. Alas my friends, according to our fabulous swim instructor Lindsey Ballenger, the sooner you get them acclimated to the water, getting their head wet, etc, the more comfortable they will be when it does come time to actually learn HOW to swim. Makes sense to me!

We sang some songs, splashed around & even went under water a few times!! It was so nerve-wracking for us parents to think about dunking our baby, but everyone did great! Lindsey was a wonderful teacher and made us all feel super comfortable. As she said 'the class was a success; no tears, no rain & no poops in the pool.' Couldn't have said it better myself, haha;)

Saturday afternoon, Molls & I were playing on the floor in the living room and all of a sudden the girl got on all fours and was starting to crawl! What the %^&*?!?! I know she can roll just about anywhere she wants and she'll also scoot herself wherever or spin on her hiney in a 360, but crawling?! Man..I wasn't ready for that! Jojo..are you ready for her this week??! ;)

I called mom & dad to hurry over to the house & Matt to come in the living room--such a trip to watch this lil peanut get around all by herself! Fast forward to Sunday and now she wants to pull herself up! Nooooo, haha!

The time has come, my little girl is now mobile. Let the baby-proofing really begin and the exhaustion really set in. As crazy as it is to watch her grow, it's absolutely incredible to watch her grow & learn. As I told a friend today, it makes me want maternity leave to be NOW, not when your baby can't do anything!

Sunday afternoon, we met up with Matt's friend John, his wife Kelly and their precious little girl Maya, who is 3 months younger than Mollie. They live in Chicago and are on IOP for the week on vacay. Not only have I never met John or Kelly, I swear we've talked via email & facebook probably over 100 times like we're lifelong friends! John is a regular blog reader (thanks bud!!) and soon after Maya was born, the new parent questions began--breastfeeding tips, sleeping issues, etc. The rest is history and we FINALLY got to spend time with our families together and celebrate our successes of survival!! There were def times I think we all questioned our sanity..but that's what friends are for right?! John & Kelly, cheers to our sweet girls and the lifelong friendship among us from here on out~ xoxo

A special weekend

What a fabulous Mom's weekend to share with my amazing mom and amazing daughter-- Blessed to have a mom that's my best friend and to be a mom now, thanks to Molls:)

Saturday we headed out to the Firefly Distillery & Irvin~House Vineyard for the 'Sippin Saturday' event. Locals, if you haven't been GO. Out of towner's, make sure to put this stop in your next trip. Wadmalaw is just beautiful to say the least.
At the Vineyard & Distillery, we sampled their flavored vodkas mmmm, ate some Home Team BBQ & collards mmmm and finished the day sightseeing the grounds, farm animals and listening to some guitar pickin' out there.

First sight of the animals

lil rascal trying to grab my shot glass!

giddy up..

Sunday, we started the day with a lovely breakfast compliments of the darlin' husband; French toast, turkey bacon, scrambled eggs & fresh fruit--my faves!!

Early afternoon we headed down to 2nd Sunday on King Street, one of my favorite free things to do in town. Ideal for a little stroll & some ice cream:)

I love my family!

 We finished the afternoon with a backyard swim including our friends, Lauren & Nicole. Perfect way to cool down after being hot downtown!! :)

Best friends!

Splashed herself silly

What a FUN weekend with those I love the most--thanks mom, dad, Matt & Mollie for making it a memorable first Mother's Day! xoxoxo

Friday Loves!

My Friday Love post is alllll about Mollie! Um, well, the whole blog is all about that muchkin:) In honor of Mother's Day it got me thinking just how LUCKY I am to 1) be a mother to a healthy & thriving little girl and 2) be HER mother.

Today she is 10 months old- wow. Matt & I enjoy every second with her & it's been amazing to watch her grow, learn new things, become aware of new people and new surroundings and the list goes on.

A few things to summarize her latest antics:

She LOVES her friends at Jojo's house!! Matt & I swear that we have the only child ever, who's excited for their parents to leave them in the mornings. Haha. I know she adores us, I'm not saying that, but it truly warms my heart that she LOVES other people, especially other kids:)

Mollie's officially a Garrett-- she could NOT get enough of the Costco samples!! On the menu last weekend were whole-grain crackers, mini spinach florentine quiche and whole grain pancakes. They must have known we were all 3 coming & decided upon kid-friendly foods:) The girl had seconds of each item..when it was quiche time & I was holding it breaking off pieces for her, she didn't want me out of her sight. I agree sista, a quiche is delish!

We had a lovely family Easter in Myrtle Beach! She's not yet a beach baby (didn't love the sand on her hands) but have a feeling that will change..she's not really going to have a choice:) We love the beach!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day weekend. Whether you've given birth to a child or play the mother role to someone in your life, CELEBRATE-- you deserve it!!!

xoxo

Friday Loves

 Is this blog going to turn into just 'Friday Loves?!' NO. I haven't posted anything in a week, though...oops.
 

 The Royal Wedding. Enough said. I was SOOO OVER the news coverage this past week & not hearing anything new or interesting, but that all changed at 5:45 this morning when I watched the beautiful Kate Middleton leave her hotel to get into the car taking her to the wedding ceremony. Gives me chills to think about that moment. All brides remember that moment leading up to our ceremony; just magical. I think my favorite part of the coverage was seeing her ride with her dad to the wedding. So touching and she was a total natural. Welcome Princess Kate, you've earned that title! *I'll also add that I'm glad she's a brunette:)

I was so flattered to be a guest blogger on Style Concierge today! Lee asked me some money saving & coupon questions & I had a fun time thinking about them:) Hope you'll enjoy and learn something maybe. *Lee is also offering a FREE 20 minute style consult via phone, so email her today to get started. I did mine with her & got some great organization & closet tips. Since it's over the phone, you can live anywhere! :)

Again, on the coupon theme, I love Harris Teeter Super Doubles! I went this AM for a quick, but productive trip en route to work. had my list made, my coupons organized and a plan for my day--that is until I got to my car & realized I didn't have my cell phone! Lovely. I knew I had it in the meat section because I text Matt about some fresh chicken wings that were on sale..beyond that I had no clue!!! Of course I left my name with customer service and PLEADED with them to help. A few hours later they called me at work and had FOUND it! Now, that's some good customer service. * I pick it up this afternoon, and sooo curious to know just where they found it. Please Lord, don't let it have been lying in the meat section...

And this is NOT a Friday Love, but feel the need to support my Sweet Home Alabama. If anyone can help in South Alabama or donate in SC, I'll gladly help organize things. Here is a link to a drop off and there's a ton more!! PLEASE do what you can, so many people are suffering.
- Animals who need to be fostered or re-located
-Pictures & Documents that were found in the storms and need to be placed with their owners.

A reminder to be grateful for all that we have and all that we are given--nothing is to be taken for granted.